It was another opening day start for Jon Lester, but it never gets old.

"It's an honor," Lester said, before facing the Orioles Monday. "Just want to get the boys off in the right direction."

He did, but got no support and took the 2-1 loss. The Red Sox stranded 12 baserunners.

"We had a number of chances," said Red Sox manager John Farrell.

Of the last 10 outs Lester recorded, seven were punchouts. He had been 15-3 against Baltimore.

Lester's take on the game: "(When you) give up a bunch of singles and a bases-empty homer (to Nelson Cruz), I'll take my chances."

He was satisfied then. But Lester must be tired that he's still being asked about his contract situation. It happened again Monday, before the game. He said it wasn't fair to his teammates to keep hearing about it. "The guys got my full attention. I let that stuff take care of itself."

OK, Sizemore was the spring training story. And he was the opening day story too, with a single and a home run. "From the first day of spring training it's been exciting," said Sizemore after the game.

If things work out for him, "he's a tremendous centerfielder," said Jerry Remy (more on him later).

Sizemore's homer was "pretty incredible" said Mike Napoli. "He showed he could do that in spring training."

Pedro Gomez of ESPN asked Sizemore if he could still play full-throttle like he did before injuries sabotaged his career. "It's how I play. I can't change that," said Sizemore, who apparently broke his bat on the home run.

Well, talk about a guy who deserves a few breaks.

Mr. President. The Red Sox are off today ... to the White House. The defending World Series champs will meet the President. Why do I think Jonny Gomes is going to say or do something weird?

Dustin Pedroia said the visit will be fun. "I'm just going to take it all in. It's going to be an exciting time."

Obama might take Pedroia to the basketball court and post him up.

On Bogaerts. It's hard to curb your enthusiasm for Xander Bogaerts. "He can be a Hall of Fame type player," said Dennis Eckersley.

Whoa, back off a little, Eck. Bogaerts has played 19 regular-season games in the bigs, and he's lucky enough to have a ring already. But let's see how it's going for him in July.

Bogaerts figures to hit with power. His defense is of some concern. He said he was "a lot more prepared" to play defense now after putting in extra time with tireless coach Brian Butterfield

Lost weekend. Hard not to feel for Jackie Bradley Jr. after his topsy-turvy weekend. He gets sent to Pawtucket, gets called back when Shane Victorino goes on the 15-day disabled list, shows up in Baltimore and gets in the game as a pinch-runner. He gets one at bat, with two out, two on in the ninth, got caught looking by closer Tommy Hunter. Bradley said he thought two of the strikes should have been balls.

Jerry Remy. He seemed OK after being a hot-button topic all last week. He was charged up describing Sizemore's homer. Outside of a brief exchange with Don Orsillo about the new ties they were outfitted in, there was no light banter between the broadcasters.

Look, no one's not going to tune in to a Red Sox game because Remy's part of the broadcast. Clearly doing the games is a mental health break for him. You may not think he deserves that escape. But is it enough to keep you from watching?